Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) nesting and late brood rearing habitat for the Idaho and Southwestern Montana Greater Sage-Grouse Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS). For purposes of the analysis, it is defined as the extent of mapped nesting habitat derived by the use of a 10 km (6.2 mile) buffer around active leks to capture approximately 80% of nests (Connelly et. al 2013; Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) 2012 unpublished data, Montana BLM Dillon Field Office 2014 unpublished data; and U.S. Forest Service 2014 unpublished data). Breeding habitat is inclusive of lek, nesting, and early brood-rearing habitat (Connelly et. al 2000). Late brood-rearing (i.e. summer) habitat has not been mapped in detail for the Idaho and Southwestern Montana Subregion (IDMT), but it is assumed for purposes of the analysis, that these areas are largely encompassed by and embedded within the mapped or estimated nesting habitat areas. Buffered Lek data for Idaho, Montana (Dillon Field Office), and the Raft River Unit of the Sawtooth National Forest in Utah were combined to create this layer. For Idaho, the portion of winter habitat that overlaps nesting habitat is included in this data. See Process Steps for more info.

Citations: i) Connelly, J.W., M.A. Schroeder, A.R. Sands, and C.E. Braun. 2000. Guidelines to manage sage grouse populations and their habitats. Wildlife Society Bulletin 28:967–985.

ii) Connelly, J.W., A. Moser, and D. Kemner. 2013. Greater Sage-Grouse breeding habitats: Landscape-based​ ​comparisons. Grouse News 45. Research Reports.